Whisper of a Rose
Aug. 22nd, 2015 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroThe year is 2024. Teenage college student Melrose is angry and withdrawn; she has no friends and her family is terribly abusive. So she escapes into fantasy worlds. And then she finds herself trapped in a dream world via a stolen iDream device, and terrible things are happening there.
Whatever Steam error prevented it from running the first time I tried, it had resolved the next day.
The system is very similar to Aveyond: Fairly standard jrpg. Monsters are visible on the world map and their loot drops need to be picked up; the battles are turn-based ATB-style; and for some bizarre reason Esc is the “decline” key. (This also supports mouse input, which is occasionally useful on menus.) There’s a crafting system for making accessories and ultimate equipment; and a skill tree system that works vaguely like the every other skill tree you’ve seen in a jrpg, except that you get the points for it by completing story events.
At first, I was reminded a little of the old NES game Day Dreamin’ Davy, where the fantasy/dream elements are drawn on top of real-life events and the two worlds intersperse. I was hoping for more of that, but it’s a mixed bag and ultimately more of a “journey to the center of the mind” thing.
It’s not entirely clear that Melrose is supposed to be a 19-year-old college student; the way that other students act and treat her feels much more high school (or even middle school) to me. And though the first chunk of the game puts her on a misery parade, her first meeting with Hellena (the first party member to join you) makes it clear that she’s not actually a terribly pleasant person. That’s more likely the result of her terrible life rather than the cause of it, but it’s an interesting note.
If you fail a puzzle (like a stealth section early on) several times, the game gives you the option of sacrificing the reward to skip it entirely. That’s really nice.
Similarly, there’s a “beef gate” area in an early dungeon with massive powerful creatures. The game prompts you to save if you try to go in (which is good, because they can kill you with one hit); and it prompts you to have reached at least level 5 before venturing into an area where a boss waits.
I checked a walkthrough to get a sense of the game’s length, and discovered that I was missing sidequests and side-paths despite trying to look for them. Also, that the game was full-length for a 16-bit jrpg, probably 20 hours. Which makes it really, really impressive for an amateur work.
Overall: Similar to Aveyond: Lord of Twilight, I’m impressed by the time and effort that went into making the game, and there are a bunch of interesting ideas. It’s a decent 16-bit jrpg. That said, I have an abundance of games to play and my gaming time is limited, and this didn’t grab me enough to make me feel it was really worth it. I got my Humble Bundle money’s worth; I may revisit it later, but I’m done for now.
Whatever Steam error prevented it from running the first time I tried, it had resolved the next day.
The system is very similar to Aveyond: Fairly standard jrpg. Monsters are visible on the world map and their loot drops need to be picked up; the battles are turn-based ATB-style; and for some bizarre reason Esc is the “decline” key. (This also supports mouse input, which is occasionally useful on menus.) There’s a crafting system for making accessories and ultimate equipment; and a skill tree system that works vaguely like the every other skill tree you’ve seen in a jrpg, except that you get the points for it by completing story events.
At first, I was reminded a little of the old NES game Day Dreamin’ Davy, where the fantasy/dream elements are drawn on top of real-life events and the two worlds intersperse. I was hoping for more of that, but it’s a mixed bag and ultimately more of a “journey to the center of the mind” thing.
It’s not entirely clear that Melrose is supposed to be a 19-year-old college student; the way that other students act and treat her feels much more high school (or even middle school) to me. And though the first chunk of the game puts her on a misery parade, her first meeting with Hellena (the first party member to join you) makes it clear that she’s not actually a terribly pleasant person. That’s more likely the result of her terrible life rather than the cause of it, but it’s an interesting note.
If you fail a puzzle (like a stealth section early on) several times, the game gives you the option of sacrificing the reward to skip it entirely. That’s really nice.
Similarly, there’s a “beef gate” area in an early dungeon with massive powerful creatures. The game prompts you to save if you try to go in (which is good, because they can kill you with one hit); and it prompts you to have reached at least level 5 before venturing into an area where a boss waits.
I checked a walkthrough to get a sense of the game’s length, and discovered that I was missing sidequests and side-paths despite trying to look for them. Also, that the game was full-length for a 16-bit jrpg, probably 20 hours. Which makes it really, really impressive for an amateur work.
Overall: Similar to Aveyond: Lord of Twilight, I’m impressed by the time and effort that went into making the game, and there are a bunch of interesting ideas. It’s a decent 16-bit jrpg. That said, I have an abundance of games to play and my gaming time is limited, and this didn’t grab me enough to make me feel it was really worth it. I got my Humble Bundle money’s worth; I may revisit it later, but I’m done for now.
